1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cervical collars. More specifically this invention relates to a cervical collar with an improved chin support brace.
2. Prior Art
Numerous types of cervical collars have been disclosed which restrict the movement of the head and neck of a person who has suffered a neck or spinal injury. In fact, cervical collars are now standard equipment for emergency medical service squads and rescue units.
Originally, cervical collars were constructed of a relatively heavy strap formed from materials such as leather or other such heavy duty materials and usually included a number of metal braces. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,894. These heavy duty strap cervical collars were reasonably successful in immobilizing the head but presented significant problems when x-rays were needed because of the metal contained within the braces. In addition, these bulky cervical collars did not provide access to the patient's neck if a tracheotomy was necessary. Finally, because of the materials commonly used to manufacture these heavy-duty collars, they were cumbersome to use and expensive to produce. Because of current and anticipated limitations on the reuse of virtually all medical products, expense is a significant factor in the choice of all medical equipment, including cervical collars. Thus, these heavy duty cervical collars are too expensive as single use, medical products.
As a result of the enhanced utilization of lighter weight, plastic materials, cervical collars are now generally constructed from relatively stiff, light weight plastic materials that are capable of being bent to encircle the neck of the wearer and yet still provide substantial support for the wearer. Examples of these types of collars are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,083,553, 5,060,637 and Re. 32,219.
The Re. 32,219 patent discloses a rotatable, one-piece chin support brace as a key element of its cervical collar. This one-piece chin support brace is comprised of a relatively rigid, c-shaped, one-piece plastic piece joined to the body of the cervical collar at two fixed points, one point in the center of the chin support brace and the other point at one end of the chin support brace. In operation, the second end of this chin support brace, which is not permanently affixed to the body of the collar, is rotated upward. This rotation bends the chin support brace outward. After this outward bend is complete, the second end is secured to the body of the cervical collar by a rivet or snap fastener to form the in place, chin support brace.
The chin support brace of U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,553 is also both one-piece and generally c-shaped. However, this chin support brace is permanently secured at each end of its c-shape form to the body of the cervical collar by connecting pins. In use, the center of this chin support brace is rotated forward to permit the joining of a Velcro.RTM., also known as hook and loop material, patch (54) on the lower portion of the chin support with another Velcro.RTM., also known as hook and loop material, patch (52) on the body of the cervical collar to create the chin support brace.
While these chin support braces for cervical collars offer important improvements over the braces of prior cervical collars, each still has certain deficiencies making the utilization of the collar difficult.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide an improved cervical collar.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a cervical collar with an improved chin support brace for said collar.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved cervical collar with a two-piece chin support brace.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved cervical collar with a chin support brace which can be stored flat.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description, drawings and claims. The description, along with the accompanied drawings, provides a selected example of the construction of the device to illustrate the invention.